Tough Guys!!

The LSU Bayou Bengals and the Georgia Bulldogs are set to come to blows this Saturday as NCAA Championship weekend is upon us.  Both teams have on all accounts either met or exceeded expectations for this year.  They each come to the table with a top 5 nasty defense and offenses with weapons to beat you!  Coach Richt has talk of extension ringing in his ears replacing the chatter that spoke of roasted hindquarters earlier in the season.  Coach Miles – well, he has voices of another nature ringing in his – that seem to have helped right some of the clock guffaws of yesteryear.  This game touts a tale of two teams that both desire the glory of an SEC Championship.  Although outwardly they seem to have more hanging on this … BSC Championship game, undefeated season, etc … I’m not so sure that LSU even requires this victory to get their rematch up with the guys from Tuscaloosa (yep … it’s going to happen!!).  That said the Dawgs have SUGAR grains of old that are just within reach … they can taste the sweetness that’s available to them for the taking!!

S0 … what’s the key here??  LSU has been rolling over their opponents in fine dominating fashion this year drubbing Oregon, West Virginia, Florida, Auburn & Arkansas while handling Alabama in a Tuscaloosa classic!  Georgia has … well, really beaten no one overly impressive.  They have had some fine wins over Mississippi State, Florida, Auburn and Ga. Tech, but they also lost to Boise and at home to South Carolina.  The line on this game will probably open around two touchdowns and stay there until game time, and here’s why.  LSU’s defense and special teams are outstanding and very opportunistic.  Their offense is tough and wants to beat you down until your state is broken.  The coaching staff – Les Miles – is a bit on edge and is the tough minded, keep the foot down mind power that drives the on field players and their game attitude.  All roads seem pointed to an LSU victory on this upcoming Saturday … however … the Dawgs will show up … and not to lose!  The Dawgs can and will win if and only if their defense matches up with the Tiger offense with the same brutal toughness - both physically and mentally.  On the offensive side Richt & Bobo will need to pull some tendencies out of their bag that include both aggressive and unexpected schemes to keep the Tiger defense off balance.  Should the Dawgs staff pull some creative schemes together that are both purposeful and well executed then this game could get interesting.  Don’t sleep on the Georgia offense as Aaron Murray has had them rolling of late and has thrown for a slew of TD passes in the last 4 weeks.

All that said … we’ll all know in 6 days!!